Air Sealing Saves Money I’ve written quite a few articles over the years about the importance of properly air sealing a home to save energy and money. Even the best quality insulation won’t work very well if your home has air leaks that allow outside air into your home. I found a very useful site […]

Spray Foam Insulation If you’re interested in checking out some basement renovations that include spray foam insulation then I recommend you head over to Home Construction Improvement and read: Spray Foam Insulation For Basements Foam Insulation – Closed Cell vs Open Cell Foam Board Insulation The article includes links to two blogs where the home […]

DIY Cellulose Insulation I’ve written several articles on the benefits of cellulose insulation especially in attics. However, did you know that you can actually install cellulose insulation yourself i nthe attic? You heard me correctly, cellulose insulation in the attic can be a DIY project. Installing cellulose insulation is really quite easy if you have […]

Foam Board Insulation Foam board insulation products are quite popular with some aspects of today’s green construction. If you’re looking for some information on these products then check out: Foam Board Insulation Types and R Values. You may not think foam board insulation is green. However, recent studies from insulation manufacturers suggest that polystyrene insulation […]

Today contractor’s started installing spray-in-place Nu-Wool cellulose wall insulation in the Energy Star home we’re building at work. Dense packed cellulose wall insulation is one of the best ways to insulate your walls. If you’re interested in learning more about this great insulation product then I suggest you check out the post I wrote today […]

Over at my other blog I’m documenting the progress of a new home that has some green construction details. Check out the latest post, New House Energy Efficient Details, which talks about using spray-in-place cellulose insulation and energy efficient triple pane vinyl windows. I think you’ll enjoy watching us build this new home and hearing […]

One of the best ways to improve the energy efficiency of your new or existing home is by aggressively air sealing every possible void. Air sealing homes has reached new levels of attention with the current Energy Star rating system. Leaky building envelopes can cause as much as a 20% loss in energy efficiency. To […]

Spray applied cellulose is a great way to make your next construction project “green”. That cellulose insulation that many of us have in our attics is now being spray applied to walls in new construction to create a very tight densely filled wall cavity. One of the biggest problems with fiberglass batt insulation is the […]

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Todd Fratzel, P.E.

I'm the Principal Engineer for a large construction company in New Hampshire. I run their design-build division that specializes in custom homes, commercial design-build projects and sub-divisions. I'm a licensed civil and structural engineer with extensive experience in civil and structural design and home construction. My hope is that I can share my experiences with green construction in the home construction, home improvement and home renovation profession with other builders and home owners. I'm also the author of Home Construction Improvement. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions, suggestions or you'd like to inquire about advertising on this site.